The Rise and Fall of Corporate Social Responsibility

"-Corporations talk about 'social responsibility' less and less, according to Douglas Eichar's informed and timely new book, and they appear to pursue it even more infrequently. A once-regnant ideal--that corporations were social partners in the production of prosperity, not solo players--has become a forgotten and mostly neglected promise. If you want to know why, read this book.- --Jacob Hacker, Director, Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, and co-author of American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper -Through sophisticated analysis, copious evidence, and deep historical grounding, Eichar argues persuasively that corporate social responsibility is not only inherently limited but indeed a central ideological plank in justifying the expansion of corporate power and domain over the last century. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how corporate social responsibility is actually part of the problem, not the solution, when it comes to protecting society and the environment from corporate harm.- --Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation -Eichar has written an extremely important book that makes crucial contributions to the expanding literature on corporate social responsibility. He provides a historical account of the strategies employed by corporate America to avoid responsibility for their organizational behaviors and exposes the deep-seated flaws in contemporary regulatory structures that have become increasingly reliant on voluntary adoption of socially responsible corporate practices.- --Harland Prechel, author of Big Business and the State ""Corporations talk about 'social responsibility' less and less, according to Douglas Eichar's informed and timely new book, and they appear to pursue it even more infrequently. A once-regnant ideal--that corporations were social partners in the production of prosperity, not solo players--has become a forgotten and mostly neglected promise. If you want to know why, read this book."" --Jacob Hacker, Director, Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, and co-author of American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper ""Through sophisticated analysis, copious evidence, and deep historical grounding, Eichar argues persuasively that corporate social responsibility is not only inherently limited but indeed a central ideological plank in justifying the expansion of corporate power and domain over the last century. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how corporate social responsibility is actually part of the problem, not the solution, when it comes to protecting society and the environment from corporate harm."" --Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation ""Eichar has written an extremely important book that makes crucial contributions to the expanding literature on corporate social responsibility. He provides a historical account of the strategies employed by corporate America to avoid responsibility for their organizational behaviors and exposes the deep-seated flaws in contemporary regulatory structures that have become increasingly reliant on voluntary adoption of socially responsible corporate practices."" --Harland Prechel, author of Big Business and the State ""Corporations talk about 'social responsibility' less and less, according to Douglas Eichar's informed and timely new book, and they appear to pursue it even more infrequently. A once-regnant ideal--that corporations were social partners in the production of prosperity, not solo players--has become a forgotten and mostly neglected promise. If you want to know why, read this book."" --Jacob Hacker, Director, Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, and co-author of American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper ""Through sophisticated analysis, copious evidence, and deep historical grounding, Eichar argues persuasively that corporate social responsibility is not only inherently limited but indeed a central ideological plank in justifying the expansion of corporate power and domain over the last century. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how corporate social responsibility is actually part of the problem, not the solution, when it comes to protecting society and the environment from corporate harm."" --Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation ""Eichar has written an extremely important book that makes crucial contributions to the expanding literature on corporate social responsibility. He provides a historical account of the strategies employed by corporate America to avoid responsibility for their organizational behaviors and exposes the deep-seated flaws in contemporary regulatory structures that have become increasingly reliant on voluntary adoption of socially responsible corporate practices."" --Harland Prechel, author of Big Business and the State ""Through sophisticated analysis, copious evidence, and deep historical grounding, Eichar argues persuasively that corporate social responsibility is not only inherently limited but indeed a central ideological plank in justifying the expansion of corporate power and domain over the last century. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how corporate social responsibility is actually part of the problem, not the solution, when it comes to protecting society and the environment from corporate harm."" --Joel Bakan, author of The Corporation ""Eichar has written an extremely important book that makes crucial contributions to the expanding literature on corporate social responsibility. He provides a historical account of the strategies employed by corporate America to avoid responsibility for their organizational behaviors and exposes the deep-seated flaws in contemporary regulatory structures that have become increasingly reliant on voluntary adoption of socially responsible corporate practices."" --Harland Prechel, author of Big Business and the State"